Questo e Quello
Born on this day in 1900 mezzo-soprano and teacher Jennie Tourel.
When Adonis Calls is “the story of an accomplished author struggling with writer’s block who is contacted by an eager young fan interested in both an artistic and personal correspondence.”
Live from Sussex, it’s Madama Butterfly!
“Trove Thursday” offfers Joseph Martin Kraus’s superb Aeneas i Cartago, eller Dido och Aeneas—in Swedish!—starring a luminous Elisabeth Söderström as the doomed Queen.
Happy 60th birthday mezzo-soprano Jennifer Larmore.
A challenging Salome-themed vocal identification quiz arranged by Our Own Christopher Corwin.
Born on this day in 1819 composer Jacques Offenbach.
As Brünnhilde invokes the gods of an empty Valhalla for one last time and strides confidently into a wall of flame, we pause for a moment, unsure of what will follow.
“Based on two Noh plays, the hypnotic work creates a shimmering world of supernatural encounters…”
On this day in 1970, Regina Resnik celebrated her 25th anniversary at the Met with a performance of Carmen, part of the company’s first June Festival.
The frequently-omniscient Future Met Wiki has recently vouchsafed a few morsels about upcoming Met seasons.
Happy 75th birthday soprano Eva Marton.
“James Levine is trying to discredit one of his alleged victims by dredging up a ‘love’ letter his teen accuser once wrote to him.”
Siegfried is, in a sense, The Ring’s odd one out.
Today at 2:00 PM, Our Own JJ presents the “other” great Maria Callas Traviata from 1958, the glorious performance of June 20, 1958 at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
In less than 10 days two outstanding countertenors, Franco Fagioli and Jakub Józef Orlinski, visited London.
Tomorrow (Sunday) a staged reading of The Lisbon Traviata will be performed at New York’s LGBT Community Center.
Born on this day in 1952 tenor Jerry Hadley.
New York City Opera apparently plans to fund its commission of the opera Stonewall via Patreon.
If Das Rheingold is an opera about infinitude, the illusory idea that the world is large enough to satisfy all of our desires, passions, and lusts, Die Walküre is an opera about scarcity.
Happy 88th birthday stage designer and director Pier Luigi Pizzi.
Trove Thursday wades into the murky musicological waters of Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann..
Norman Lebrecht, as is increasingly his wont, emitted a vicious racially-charged dog whistle this morning.
Born on this day in 1763 composer Simon Mayr.
Tell us: What was the best of 2025?
Parterre Box concludes the thrilling first year of Talk of the Town by inviting your lightning rod opinions on several more categories of operatic argumentation.
